Amusement apparatus.



No. 824,395. PTBNTED JUNE 26, 1906. L E; MAGIRB.

AMUSEMENT APPARATQS. Hummm fuma um. a, 1906,

s sums-sns? 1.

PATENTES) JUNE 26, 1906.

J. H. MAGUIRB. AMUSEMBNT APPARTUS.

APPLXUATIOE FILED KAB. 517%998.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOSEPH H. nannies; or

AMUSEMENT no. senses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rviirsn, passerai/asia A PPAR ATU Si Patented .Tune 26, 1906.

Application lerl March 5, 190B, Serial Ilo. 304,199.

To @LZ whom it may concern,.- l

Beit known that l, .losers H. MAGL-rias, a citizen oi the United States,residing at Vlayne, in the county di Delaware and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful improvement-s in AmusementApparatus, of which the Jfollowing is a specification.

My invention has relation to an amusement apparatus especially adaptedfor erection at summer and other pleasure resorts; and in suchconnection it relates particularly to the construction and arrangementof a building to receive scenery and oi ineens supported by the same tocarry persons and of means for holding the carrying means in an elevatedas well as suspended condition, so as to impart to persons occupying thecarrying means the sensation oi an aerial trip or excursion. Y

The nature, scope, and characteristic features of my present inventionwill be more fully understood from the following descrip'- tion, takenin connection with the aooornt panying drawings, forming part hereof, inWliichf- Figure i is a view illustrating in elevation the front ofabuilding and with means in tation of air-ships or balloons for carryinpersons in a suspended condition in sai uilding embodying main featuresoi my said invention` Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the building,illustrating partly in section and partly in elevation a tracliway arraned adiacent to the outer wall and to the cci ing oi the building, withcars adapted to travel on the traclivvay supporting the air-ships orballoons and Jor moving the saniein a suspended condition within thebuilding, a centrally-arranged partition-Wall Vfor dividing thebuilding'into sections, and a covering or sheeting secured to the W.lls, floors, and oeil; f ing oi the building containing scenery to'increase the sensational eects of the structure 1 in the navigating of theballoons therein.

'feed-'Wire hg trolley-Wheel g, Ywliich is pivotally connected with thecar e and series Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of tlifebuilding, illustrating the combined entrance and exit oi the same, aside Wall arranged adjacent to the entrance and to the rear WallOpposite thereto and forming passage-vvtysV for the air-ships orballoons, and a partitionwall uniting the side Walls with each other,lia-ving openings and a series of air-shi s Vor balloons adapted totravel in an olllon'g course within said building. Fig. 4 is a longitndinal sectional view of the amusement apparatus; and Fig. 5 is adetail vieivenlarged, illustrating partly in elevation and partly insection a car and a portion oi the trackway overwhicli the car travels,a hoisting apparatus for supporting, raising, and lowering the air-shipor balloon, and ineens for electrically propelling the car and actuatingthe hoistin mechanism of the saine.

Reierringrto tie drawings, a represents a building, preferablyrectangular and oblong in outline, which in the present instance isiorrned Oi a light framework consisting of posts c', supporting theouter Walls or a shell al, and trusses o3, supporting the ceilings41 andthe roof a5 oi' the building o. As shown in Fig. 2 the outer posts a andthe trusses a3 serve to su port a traclrway b, arranged adacentcto t eWalls a? Oi the building o and close to the ceilin c* thereof. Thetrackway b is'provided wit rails 5 and with an oponingor slot b2,through which passes a chain orrope'c, wound upon a drum d oi a hoistingapparatus d, carried by a car e, traveling over Vthe rails b of thetraclvvay o. as shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5. Y

V@ne mode oi actuating the neistingdrum d Yconsists of an electricniotor placed on the oar c, rotating the drum d by means of a sprocket'-ear d and sprocket-chain d4. A bandiera e d5, actuated by a lever d, isplaced in proximity to a seat e for an attendant, so as to enable thesame to hold the drurn d and by the saine the ro e c in any givenposition. Motors secure to the under side of the platform o the car e,serve to propel the car over the rails b through the intervention ofear-vvlieelsfz and f3, which are respective tors f and aides e2 of thecar e; as Yshi-ssn in Fig. 5. The electric Y"current actuating themotors d? and' conducted to the car e bya and pole g,

held inV engagement with the Wire b by a from the pole g the current isYsind Vt'elitothe motors d2 and f by ineens not lslioivnirom whence thesaine by the axles Ye and traction-Wheels e3 is conducted to the railst', thus closing the circuit. ln addition to the pole g the care isprovided with suitable controllin mechanism for the electric current,(not s ovvn,) by ineens of which the attendant occupying the seat e isenabled to stop or start the car e and to control the inovernent of thesaine on the traolway b. @n the trackway b of the building a are arysecured to the shaft f of the rne- Y TOO ranged a series of cars e, eachof which, by means of the rope c, is adapted to support a vehicle t,referably in the shape of an airship or ba loon. In order to pro erlysupport the balloon tl of the air-ship1i,t e ro e c is divided into twobranches c and c2, whic are secured to the tapering ends of the balloont, while ropes or chainsfigin turn connect the balloon fi to a car t3,adapted to receive and hold persons. The car e, holding the air-ship isuspended therefrom, will when moving over the trackway b move theair-shi in a substantially oblong path in the buillding a and will thusimpart to persons occupying the cart thereof the sensation of travelingthrough the air, due to the fact that the rope c and car e, as well asthe trackway l), is shielded from view by the balloon i. To heighten theeffect of the said aerial navigation, the walls a2 and posts af', aswell as the floor c of the building af, are covered by a covering orsheeting 7c, upon which is displayed fields, mountalns, woods, andbuildmgs and impart the impression of traveling through differentCountries and climates.

The building a, by means of the centrallyarranged posts a and sheetingk, carried by the same, is divided into two sections a? and a. Thesesections are connected with each other by passage-ways a and al", formedby extending the sheeting c outward and substantially parallel tocertain of the walls of the building a to form partition-walls ai11 andam, which merge into the partition-wall am. The sheeting k, forming thepassage-way al", may be shaped to imitate rocks, so as to impart topersons occupying the car i ofthe airship fi passing therethrough theillusion of traveling through a mountain caon. In order to permitpersons traveling in one of the the sections a7 or 0,8 of the building ato obtain a view of the other section of the building c, thepartition-wall a is provided with o enings ai, which expose certainportions of tie opposite sections thereof, as shown in Fig. 3.

To prevent persons from observing the trackway I) through the openingsa, the sheeting k, forming the ceiling a4 of the building a, is extendedover the sides of the track way b and terminates at the slot b2 thereof,thus concealing the trackway l), as shown in Fi s. 2 and 4. Thepartition-wall c is arrange opposite the entrance al of the building ain order to obstruct the view into the interior of the building bypersons standing outside the same or on the stairway a" and platform alsthereof. The platform als by a railing (not shown) may be divided intotwo sections-one serving as the loading and the other as the unloadinplatform. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, w ien the air-ships 't in theirtravel have reached the passage-way a9 the same are lowered to bring thecar t3 thereof opposite the platform a to permit persons to leave thecar and other persons to board the same. After the car i3 has beenloaded the air-ship i, by means of the hoisting-drum d, placed on thecar e, and rope cis first raised to such a height as to bring the sameand the car i3 out of View of persons standing outside the building a,after which the air-ship is moved through the building in a manner asshown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The sheeting k, covering the ceiling of thebuilding, may be painted so as to imitate sky, clouds, stars, and themoon. Furthermore, the buildin ay may receive light through the ceilingci,4 or y artllicial means, such as arc or incandescent lamps. (Notshown.) The sheeting lf is preferably extended up to the platform ai andover the same and 1s bent and )ainted to imitate rocks forming an archeentrance 0,16 of rugged appearance, as shown, for exam le, in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings.

nstead of dividing the building a into two sections and passage-ways thesame may be divided into more sections and passa e-ways, and thetrackway may be arrange to pass also through the central portion of thebuilding c. Moreover, the air-ships i may be replaced by balloons orHying-machines, as desired.

Having thus described the nature and 0bjects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An amusement apparatus of the character described, comprising abuilding, an elevated trackway having a slot, means for coverin l saidtrackway to conceal the same to the s ot, a car adapted to travel oversaid trackway and having oisting means and both shielded by saidtrackway, a cable sus ended from said hoisting means and passing t oughsaid slot, and means for carrying persons connected with said cable andheld suspended thereby beneath said trackway.

An amusement apparatus of the character described, comprising abuilding, an elevated trackway having a slot, means for covering saidtrackway to conceal the same to the slot, a car adapted to travel oversaid trackway and having hoisting means, both shielded by said trackway,a cable sus ended from said hoisting means and passing t ough said slot,means for carrying persons connected with said cable and held suspendedby the same beneath the trackway, said hoisting means arranged to raiseand lower said cable and by the same, said carrying means.

3. An amusement apparatus of the character described, comprising abuilding, an elevated trackway having a slot, a car adapted to travelover said trackway, means connected with said car, and ada ted to propelthe same along said trackway, llajoisting means disconnected from saidpropelling means arranged on the car, means connected with said hoistingmeans for actuating the same, a cable connected with said hoisting meansand IOO IOS

IIO

passing through said slot, and means for carrying persons connected withsaid cable and held suspended by the same and said hoisting meansbeneath said trackway and said car-propellin means, said hoisting meansand said cab e arranged to independently raise, lower and move saidcarrying means, Within said building,

4. An amusement apparatus of the character described, comprising abuildin an elevated trackway having a slot, a car a apted to travel oversaid traokway, means connected with said car and ada ted to propel thesame along said trackway, oisting means disconnected from saidpropelling means arv 'ra ed on said car, means connected with saihoisting means for actuating the same, a cable connected With saidhoisting means and passing through said slot, means for covering saidtrackwa to the slot and shielding the car and prope ling and hoistingmeans thereof, and means foi` ca 'ng ersons ecnnected with said cablealnliinhel suspended by the same beneath said trackway, saidcarpropelling means, hoisting means and cable arranged to independentlyraise, lower and move said carrying means, Within said buildn witnesswhereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of twosubscribing 3o witnesses.

JOSEPH H. MAGUIRE.

Witnesses:

J. WALTER DoUGLAss, THOMAS M. SMITH.

